Process for decomposing water by electrolysis.



No. 813,105. PATENTBD FEB. 20, 1906.

I W. P. M. MGGARTY- PROCESS FOR DECOMPOSING WATER BY ELEGTROLYSIS.

A7LIGATION FILED NOV. 8 1904.

PA FFENT WlLLlAM r: M. MGCARTY, or scorer nines. MARYLAND, Assicnon Toresults A. nsnsr, rnnsrnn, or new ronn, n. r.

E p-ecificntion of IL-etterc Patented Feb. 20, 1906.

Application filed November 3, 1904;. Llcrisl lieu 281,940,

so (it/,6 whom, may concern:

it known thst 1, WILLIAM, F. M. Mo-

CARTY, e citizen of the-United States, residing at Rocky Ridge, in thecounty of li rederici: and Stcteci Meryisnd, have invented new anduseful improvements in Processes for Decorn osing i iTeter byElectrolysis, of which the ollowing is s specification.

This invention. reletes to c novel process fordecomposingWcterbyelectrolysis,cndhes for its object to render theWetter, which is normeliynot an electrolyte, more susceptibleto theaction of sin electric current, by adding to the Water s substance whichwill disturb or break up the molecular-arrangement of the hydrogen andoxygen. of the Water, end thus facilitate its ready decomposition. ihesub stance that I add to the Water is ensllrsli metal, and preferably Iemploy metnllic so dium. in order that the process end the manner ofcarrying it out may be more clesrly under stood, I have illustrnted aconvenient form. of apparatus in the accompanying drewin s, which I havefound in prsctice to give highfysetisfcctory results;

Referring to these drswings, Figure l is e verticel sectional viewofencpperstus constructed according to my invention, and Fig. 2 is s topplan view of one. of the electrodes.

1 2 indicate, respectively;--two 'recepttr cles or tanks, each of whichis provided user I its lowerend with en outlet-pipe 3,.Wl1l0ll outietsere connected by means of s rubber or other collar 4 to provide e.conduit 6, con necting the two tanks.

7 81 indicate, respectively, two electrodes. 'lhese electrodes ere esch"formed teem plate of platinum. coiled upon itself at greater or lessnumber of times, the lower portion of the outer coii being provided withs project-- ing portion, (iilustrsted by 9 end it) on the respectiveelectrodes.) The rejecting or terminal portion 9 id of esch eiectrode islocsted directly opposite the opening in the conduit 6 the respectivetanks, es shown. Secured the inner coil of eoch electrode its upper end,es indicated ct M, is s suitable rod or conductor 12, which is incssedin s glass tube 13, the psssing through the top it being surrounded by ssuitsble washer or striding-hex 15 to provide at gs.

tight connection. Extending through esch oi the tops is s glsss tube 16,by rnesns'oi which the end the chemical substances employed may besupplied to the tcnks,end

e glass tube for permitting the escepe or the Y I genersted from-thetanks, these latter tubesbeing indicated, respectively, the numerals it?end 18.. The tenlrs are supplied with Weter to about the depth indicstedby the dotted line as as end ere submerged in en outer tank 19 to aboutthe "epth indicsted by the dotted line y y The Water having beensuppiied to the tanks, the ellrnli netsl is supplied to each tankthrough the pipes 16, instsntly causing ebulliticn of the Water and, esis well known, liberetion of hydrogen gas. the moment of ebullition lisup ly current to the electrodes through the conductors 12, which ere,of course, connected to e suitsble source-oi currentsupply. Thedischarge oocurs between the terminsl points 9 end 10 of v theelectrodes through the conduit 6, Where the decom ositicn of the Wateroccurs, oxycn heing ibersted at the anode 8 and hydrogen at the cathode7'.

in the operation of the device it great smount of host is generated, andin order to keep the eppsrntus cool I partly submer e the some in thewater of vessel 19, as in iceted on the drawings. As before stated, thesubstance I employ to decrease the re sistsnce of the Water to the posese of the current end also to increase the iecility with which it may bedecomposed is metallic sodium. This substance possesses the property ofdecomposing Water very rspidly. The product of the action of sodium uponWater contains, one port, by Weight, of hydrogen, sixteen of oxygen, endtwenty-three of so diurn, so that the twenty-three ports of sodium hevebeen exchanged or been found chemically equivalent, to one pert ofhydrogen "inning the symbol Ne to represent twenty-three parts, byWeight, of sodium, its sction will be'ezrpressed thus:

which oicourse is the atomic as distinguished from the rnoiecuierequation. in other Words, when the sodium is added to the Weterheniicel'resction occurs in which onehsli 0. he hydrogen of a part ofthe Water is dispisced en equivalent quantity of the XCCY sodiumradical, and consequently sodium hydrate is formed, which remainsdissolved in the bulk of the water. As in the above operation the sodiumis not confined to one part of the water, the action is not sufficiently.in-

tensetocause ignition of the escaping hydrogen; The essence of theinvention resides in the fact that I take advantage of the knownchemical reaction which occurs upon the addition of metallic sodium toWater by-causing the transmission of the current through the occurs inadvance of the chemical action, re-

hydrate.

sulting in the rapid se aration and liberation of the hydrogen an oxygenfrom the respective electrodes after the destruction of the molecularstructure of the water and before a new arrangement of the moleculesagain occurs, as in the forming of the sodium By proceeding according tomy invention a very rapid production of the two gases in largequantities occurs with the expenditure of a small amount of current at aow potential.

Inusing my process I ma or may not acidulate the water; but acidulation', as with sulfuric acid, assists the decomposition there- Theapparatus shown herein forms the subject-matter of a separateapplication for pate slams ent, filed November 8, 1904, Serial No,231,938;

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The process of decomposing water which consists in adding to thewater an alkali metal and then subjecting the water to the action of anelectric current.

2. The process of decomposing Water whlch consists in a idulating thewater, adding thereto an al ali' metal, and then subjecting the water tothe action of an electric cur rent.

3. The processor decomposing water which consists in adding to the watermetallic s dium, and then subjecting the water to the action of anelectric current. i

4. The process of decomposing Water which consists in acidulating thewater, adding thereto metallic sodium, and then subjecting the water tothe action of an electric current.

The process of decomposing water which consists in adding to the watermetallic sodium, and at the moment of reatest ebullition subjecting thewater to t eaction of an electric current.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of twosubscribing wit nesses.

WILLIAM F. M. MoCARTY.

Witnesses:

BRUCE S. ELLIo'rT, GEO. W. REA.

